


Your Eyes Tell

by mypagemp3



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Corporate, Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Hate to Love, How Do I Tag, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypagemp3/pseuds/mypagemp3
Summary: Broken dreams, broken promises, broken hearts. Even when everything seems broken beyond repair, if they find a way back to each other, maybe they can be okay again.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. A Whole New World

**Author's Note:**

> So… I started this… It was a sip that I was not sure if I was going to write but it became too big in my head for me to just ignore it haha It’ll probably start a little slow but (hopefully) it will be worth it. I hope you enjoy it!

Donghyuck looks around himself and feels almost blinded by the beautiful sunlight that shines through the floor to ceiling window in his office. 

  
  


The sight of the buildings and the busy streets of Seoul are clear to him and he never gets enough of looking outside. So many things happening at the same time and still, everything seems so calm from where he is looking, so many feet from the ground. 

He still can’t believe what his eyes are seeing. It’s been more than 3 weeks since he moved from his small floor on that old building in the surroundings of a far neighborhood, to this whole building in the commercial center of Seoul. Yet, everyday when it’s lunch time and the skies are clear, he can’t help but to get up from his chair and look outside. It's still hard to process how much things changed in 5 years.

“If someone came in, they’d think that it’s the first time you’re seeing things from up here.” Donghyuck hears a familiar voice from the door.

  
  


“Look if it isn’t my favorite designer,” Donghyuck answers his best friend.

  
  


“Please, we both know that you are your own favorite designer.” Renjun answers, though there’s no real bite to it. Donghyuck can do nothing but laugh.

  
  


“And may I know why I have the honor to receive your visit on this beautiful day?”

  
  


“You’re impossible.” Renjun answers, already turning around to leave.

  
  


“Wait! Sorry Injunnie, I was just kidding.” Donghyuck answers, smiling, not sounding even a little sorry, but Renjun only sighs.

  
  


“I know you still haven’t eaten so I was planning to invite you to come with me, but I’m about to give up this idea.”

  
  


“You’re so dramatic. But how do you know I haven’t eaten yet? Is Chenle giving you information?”

  
  


“And I am the dramatic one, huh? I just know that you haven't eaten, you idiot. I’ve known you long enough to know that if no one reminds you to do so, you just don’t eat.”

  
  


“What a loving best friend I have.”

  
  


“That’s it. I’m going without you.”

  
  


“I was kidding!”

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


30 minutes later, Donghyuck sees himself at a restaurant with Renjun seated in front of him. He’s confused why Renjun brought him there, it was a good place, a fancy one, but he didn’t think it would be worth driving so long just to have lunch there.

  
  


“May I know what makes this restaurant so great that made you drive 30 minutes to bring me here?”

  
  


“I needed to talk to you, and all the restaurants close to the company are always full of employees from the other companies around us or from our own, and I didn’t want anyone to hear us.”

  
  


“So you’re going to tell me a secret or something like that?” Donghyuck asks, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

“No! Can you just listen to me for a fucking second?”

  
  


“Okay, boss, I’m sorry.” Donghyuck says, raising his hands in surrender.

“I brought you here because I didn’t want all the companies to know that the CEO of our company is about to get scolded by the vice president once again.”

“You love calling yourself vice president, don’t you?”

“Very much.” Renjun answers without hesitation.

“But what did I do this time?” Donghyuck asks, sounding genuinely curious as he looks down to the window beside the table they sat in, admitting that the view of the Han river is not bad. “Renjun?” He calls when he doesn’t get an answer from his friend.

“Sorry, two people just entered and I thought one of them was a famous model that I see a lot on TV, but it can’t be her. I heard that she dates one of the CEOs of a company close to ours and that’s definitely not him, the guy she entered with.”

Donghyuck turns around and sees the girl Renjun was talking about. She has extremely long black hair with bangs and a voice so high that it was botherline irritating. Not the kind that you forget once you hear it. “I don’t think I know her.”

“I figured out, she blew up around 2 years ago, and by that time, work was already everything that you cared about.”

“That is such a lie.” Donghyuck says as he rolls his eyes.

“You know that I’m right.” 

Donghyuck doesn’t want to have the same conversation he has with his best friend every week again, so he just sighs. “What did you bring me here for?”

“Oh, right, that. Chenle told me you’re planning on turning down the invitation for the Moon Party.”

  
  


“I knew Chenle was leaking information!” Donghyuck almost screams.

  
  


“That’s really what you’re going to focus on? Of course he told me! He just graduated and he already knows that what you’re about to do is stupid!”

  
  


“I really don’t see the big deal. So I’m thinking about not going to a rich people party, what about it?”

“Oh, you don’t see the big deal?” Donghyuck can see that Renjun is trying his best not to lose his composure. “So you don’t see a reason why you should go to the _exclusive_ , _private_ _ball_ that _Moon Taeil_ gives _once_ every year and that _only a couple of dozens people are invited to_?”

“So? It’s an exclusive ball or whatever, but you know that I don’t care about things like that.” 

Donghyuck can hear Renjun taking a deep breath before talking to him like he was a child. “Hyuckie, who is Moon Taeil?”

“The CEO of a big company?” He says, and it ends up sounding more like a question than an answer, even to his own ears.

“Very good. And who else is going to be at that party?”

“Other CEOs?”

“Good boy. There’s going to be other CEOs that know each other or that are going there to meet other CEOs, since only CEOs of promising companies are invited to go. All of them have one thing that you don’t, you know what?”

“The need to feel superior to others?”

“No, moron, contacts! They all know important people! And we both know that you got here just by hard work, believe me, no one knows it better than me. But Hyuck, it’s important to know some people in this field. It can help in times of crisis or even with investors!”

“Hm… I guess I see your point.”

“Yes. Also, I heard that there is a convention also held by Moon Taeil with young CEOs, where he gives tips or something like that, and nobody seems to really know what happens there. The CEOs that are invited are not allowed to talk about it, or so I have heard.”

“Well…That sounds… Strange. What kind of business convention is secret?

“I have no idea, man. All I know is that it takes one week and there’s no one that was invited without going to the private ball. Personally, I think that Mr. Moon uses this ball to get to know better the CEOs, and those who he thinks are promising, he decides to give some help.”

“Then I don’t only have to go to this party but I also have to prove my worth to him?”

“Pretty much yes.”

“Well… This is going to be interesting.”

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Donghyuck was really wrong, or so he thinks, as he walks around the not so full party with a barely touched flute of champagne in his hands. This was not interesting at all.  _ What a waste of such a beautiful grey suit _ , he thinks when he passes a mirror.

He looks around himself and there’s only two things that he sees: boring people he had already talked to and boring people he had yet to talk to. 

He gets tired of walking around and stops by a corner close to a big window that shows the garden some feet under. If he wasn’t so far from the ground, that probably would be a good way out, he thinks while he looks wistfully at the beautiful flowers.

_ At least the music is great,  _ he thinks as he sings to himself the newest release of a famous solo singer - paradise, if he remembers correctly.

He keeps on singing to himself, so absorbed in the song that he doesn't see a man coming into his direction until said man speaks.

  
  


“What a beautiful voice.” Donghyuck almost jumps at the voice, his heartbeat rate going to the skies.

  
  


“Mister Moon! I didn’t see you coming.” He tries to sound as natural as he can after the shock.

  
  


“They say I can be really silent.” The other man says with a smile on his face. Donghyuck takes the clue to say what he’s been planning since he entered the ball, his only mission before he can leave.

  
  
  


“Thank you very much for the invitation, sir. It’s a privilege to be known by you.”

  
  
  


“Firstly, don’t need to call me sir, I’m not that old, you know? And second, I’m pretty sure the pleasure is mine. I had only heard good things about you, and that’s not a common thing in this field. You seem to be able to delight anyone who sees you.”

  
  


“I am?” Donghyuck says, unsure, and slaps himself mentally for probably sounding so stupid in front of the other man.  _ What a good way to impress someone, Donghyuck,  _ he thinks.

  
  


“Oh, and humble as well? I see what everyone has been talking about.” Well, that went better than he thought it would go. “So you sing?”

  
  


“Oh no, sir. I just do it occasionally, for fun. I’m not a singer or anything of the sort.”

  
  


“But you could be.” Taeil says with so much honesty in his voice that in that moment, Donghyuck decides that he really likes the older. Definitely his favorite meet on that boring night.

  
  


“You’re overestimating me, sir.” Donghyuck says smiling shyly, he’s sure that his cheeks are probably a little red.

  
  
  


“I really don’t think I am. But tell me Donghyuck, what are you thinking of the party?”

  
  


“Hum… I met a lot of different people. And the music is definitely really great sir.” His inability to lie would be the death of him some day, he is sure of it.

  
  


“We really are going to need to work with this sir thing of yours.” Taeil says as he laughs, and Donghyuck is caught off guard. It really seems like the man is actually very nice. This was a turn that he didn’t expect this night to take. “You know Donghyuck, as much as I am really enjoying talking to you, I have a lot of guests I still have to greet.”

  
  
  


“That’s a shame, sir. I was really enjoying talking to you as well, but I understand you have to go now.” Donghyuck says and is surprised by how true his words are. He was really liking talking to that man, and felt somehow sad that the other had to go. That conversation was probably the highest point of his boring night.

  
  
  


“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Maybe we’ll have the opportunity to talk again soon?” And Donghyuck thinks that there is some hidden meaning behind the man’s word, some kind of invitation.

  
  
  


“You just have to say the word, sir.” And by the smile Taeil gives him before leaving, he thinks he gave the right answer.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


It’s around 30 minutes later that Donghyuck decides to leave. He thinks that he stayed long enough for it not to be rude to leave the party now. When he is going to the exit door though, he sees someone that looks familiar.

  
  


“Lee Jeno?” He says with some kind of doubt in his voice. The other man turns around and Donghyuck is proven right.

  
  


“Lee Donghyuck?” The other man says with a gentle tone, not looking as surprised as Donghyuck.

  
  


“Man… I was not expecting to see you here.” Donghyuck says, being completely honest.

  
  


“I can’t say the same,” Jeno gives his famous eye smile and Donghyuck feels himself relax for the first time that night, finally something familiar. 

  
  


“What?”

  
  


“I was actually expecting to see you. It’s been some time since I came back from the US and I’ve been wanting to meet you, but I never found the right time.”

  
  


“Really?” Donghyuck says, surprised. 

  
  


He and Jeno had been quite close during high school. The other boy was one of the only ones that didn’t treat Donghyuck like shit just for being a scholarship student in that fancy school. 

  
  


But they lost contact when Jeno went to college in the US while Donghyuck went to Seoul for the same reason. It was a good surprise that the other was planning on contacting him. Donghyuck really missed him the time they were apart. 

“Of course! I know we lost contact but you still were one my closest friends, of course I wanted to meet you again. I missed your stupid head.”

  
  


“I missed you too, asshole.” Donghyuck smiles at the other boy.

  
  


“Oh, a new friend of mine is coming! I’m going to introduce him to you.” Jeno says as he shakes his hands, calling someone behind Donghyuck. “Hey!” Jeno says a little too loud.

  
  


“Hey man,” Donghyuck hears the other man say and he freezes. He would recognize that voice anywhere. When he turns around, his suspicion turns out to be true as he sees the face of the man he hated the most and he can’t help but say his name.

"Mark Lee!"


	2. All my demons have your smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello... testing one, two, three... Anyone here? haha Just in case there really is someone still reading this, I apologize for the late update. I was planning on posting it every sunday but things happened but here we are. I hope you still like the chapter regardless.
> 
> Also, as always, a big thank you for my dear beta abi, I love you <3

"You've got to be kidding me." Donghyuck says a little louder than a whisper but Jeno doesn't miss it anyway.

  
  


"You know him? Actually forget what I just said, of course you know him, you just said his name. What I mean is, how do you know him?" Jeno says confused.

  
  


"We met in university." Mark says as he gets closer to them, not spearing another glance in Donghyuck's direction.

  
  


Donghyuck doesn't know what is more ridiculous. The fact that Mark is acting like he wasn't one of the reasons Donghyuck life's became a living hell five years ago, or the fact that Donghyuck is actually mad that the older boy is acting so nonchalantly.

  
  


"You guys went to the same university? Same classes?" Jeno asks and Donghyuck only nods with his head. He is too afraid to say something that he might regret. "But I thought Mark was older than us."

  
  


"I am. But some things happened and I was in the same classes as him." Mark finally turns to Donghyuck. “How have you been, Donghyuck?” Mark says smiling, it doesn’t seem too fake, Mark has become a better lier than Donghyuck, he realizes. But even if it doesn’t seem fake, it is completely different from the smile Donghyuck once knew.

  
  


Donghyuck takes a deep breath before he curses the older boy right there. It probably isn’t the best thing to do when going to a high class ball for the first time. He looks at Mark’s eyes that are now focused on him, but they seem empty, so empty that it gives Donghyuck chills.

  
  


"I’ve been great, not thanks to you. Or maybe it is, it doesn’t really matter. Also, I won’t ask you back so don’t bother saying anything, I don’t really care." Donghyuck says, and the bittersweetness of his words are clear even to himself. He can’t help it though, he is always more honest than he should be for his own good. Some people say it’s a good thing, Donghyuck couldn’t disagree more.

  
  


"What hap-" Jeno doesn't get to finish his phrase before Mark interrupts him.

  
  


"It was a pleasure meeting you again, Donghyuck.” And before Donghyuck has the chance to say he can’t say the same, Mark goes on. “But enough about the past." Mark says in a gentle tone but even if he is smiling again, the smile doesn't get to his eyes. He then looks at Jeno. "I told you that I would introduce my girlfriend to you today, right Jeno?"

"Yes?" Jeno says, confused with the sudden change of subject, he isn’t really ready to let the matter behind.

  
  


Donghyuck sees that Mark is now focused at Jeno and takes the opportunity to take a good look at the older. It's been more than five years since he saw Mark but Donghyuck feels like nothing has changed since that last day. He usually doesn’t think about the past too much - for his sanity - but as soon as he saw Mark, he felt like all the anger and remorse that he felt on that last day of the semester was back again. 

  
  


Mark is wearing a normal black suit, his black hair perfectly styled up his head. He looks as perfect as Donghyuck remembers and that fact somehow only makes him even more angry. It’s ridiculous but he can’t help but feel like that is unfair. How can someone be an asshole and still look like a living angel? _Life really is unfair,_ he thinks. When he can't look at Mark anymore, he changes his look to the older's said girlfriend.

  
  


"Oh god." He mentally curses himself for saying that out loud.

  
  


"Something wrong, Hyuck?" Jeno asks him with concern in his eyes. But when Donghyuck looks into Mark's eyes though, all he can see is indifference. Has his eyes always been so cold and Donghyuck just didn't realize? He prefers to believe that Mark changed, not that he was that blind.

"Nothing’s wrong. I just remembered that I have to go home now, my... hm... My friend is waiting for me there!" He says and knows that it sounds really fake. He is not surprised though, he was never a good liar.

  
  


"Your friend is waiting for you at your house? At-" Jeno pauses to look at his watch. "At midnight?"

  
  


"Hm... Yes! He just arrived in Seoul and has no place to stay but my house! So yeah, I got to go!"

  
  


"Oh... Then goodbye." Jeno says, still sounding a little confused or suspicious, Donghyuck is not sure of which. "Wait! How can I contact you?"

  
  


"You can call my company, I'll let my secretary know that you're going to call so he can pass it to me." And after saying that, Donghyuck doesn't look back as he leaves the room.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  


"Oh man... You’ve gotta be kidding me. How can I be so unlucky?" He asks himself as he enters his apartment and lays his head against the already closed door.

  
  


Of course that, from all the people, he had to be the one to see the girlfriend of the guy he hates the most cheating on said hated guy. He is not sure of what he was expecting Mark's girlfriend to be like, but he definitely wasn't expecting the model he saw when having lunch with Renjun some days ago.

He passes through the living room and goes straight to his room, already loosening his tie. He grabs a towel on his wardrobe and goes to the bathroom. A hot shower, that’s all that he needs to clear his head. When he enters the shower though, his mind goes back to the subject he is trying so hard not to think about.

  
  


_This is none of my business,_ he tries to reason with himself as he feels the hot water on his bare skin. This had nothing to do with him. Even if he hated cheaters the most. Even if he hated it so much since it destroyed his parents' marriage so many years ago. Even if he hated it even more than he hated Mark, this is none of his business.

  
  


Besides, he isn't even sure that the woman is actually cheating on Mark. All he saw was she holding hands with some guy right? Well, they could be friends, like super close friends. Or maybe he is her brother or something like that. Yes, he didn't see anything that made him be sure that the woman was cheating, so he should just forget it. 

  
  
  


_I'm not doing anything wrong for not doing anything_ , he tries to convince himself as he closes his eyes and tries to let his muscles relax under the shower. Yes, a good and long hot shower is everything he needs.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  


When he enters his office the next day, he feels better. He managed to convince himself that he couldn't prove that the woman was cheating, and besides, Mark didn't deserve anything coming from him. It is ridiculous of him to be so worked up about a matter for someone that he is sure would never care for him if the situation was the other way around.

  
  


Donghyuck is so caught up on himself that he doesn't see Chenle entering his office until he speaks up.

"Hyung?" Chenle says as if he is afraid of interrupting something.

  
  


"Oh sorry. Yes?"

  
  


"You looked really deep in your thoughts. What were you thinking about?"

  
  


"I was thinking about..." He frantically looks around himself for an excuse. "The new release!" He says as he grabs the paper that was on the top of his table.

  
  


"Which one? The one from the technology team or the one from the design team?"

  
  


"The one from the design team?" He says and it turns up sounding more like a question than an answer, not exactly what he intended but Chenle doesn't seem to notice.

  
  


"Oh, in that case, it's good that I came in. Renjun said that he wanted to talk to you this afternoon about it so I cleared your schedule."

  
  


"Good. Anything else, Chenle?" 

  
  


“No…” Donghyuck can see that the younger boy looks hesitant. Well, at least he isn’t the only one who has problems with lying.

  
  


“Chenle, I can read on your face that you want to tell me something, so I’m going to ask you one more time. Anything else, Chenle?” Chenle takes some seconds before answering.

  
  


"Actually, yes. We have a problem. Well, it's not actually a problem, not yet anyways."

  
  


"Please be more specific." Donghyuck patiently says.

  
  


"You know the new electronic we are planning on releasing in six months?"

  
  
  


"Yes? The one we had to anticipate the releasing date because it was clashing with a big event, right?”

  
  


"Yes... Oh god... Renjun is going to kill me for telling you this." Chenle looks like he is regretting every life decision that led him to that moment, and if Donghyuck wasn't so stressed because of the potential problem, he would probably laugh.

  
  


"I'd appreciate it if your disposition to do your job and report everything to me would be bigger than your fear of your cousin." Donghyuck says, getting more stressed the more Chenle took to actually speak, but trying his best to not sound rude. He really likes the younger.

  
  


"Okay. So, I've heard that some foreign company got information from inside of the team and it's planning on doing something very similar to our product and for it to be realised one month before ours." Chenle says in almost one breath and Donghyuck has to take some seconds to process what the boy said and its implications.

  
  


"Okay. Okay, it's not as bad as it could be. At least we got this information so we can do something about it. Firstly, how the hell did they get information from our company?"

  
  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


It's not until the sky is dark that Donghyuck can finally sit on the sofa of his office and take a deep breath. It took him the whole day, but he thinks he finally managed to handle the situation. 

  
  


He found out who was leaking information and fired him. Now they'd have a more strict agenda, the realising now anticipated two months, but he believes that the changes he did that day would help for it being possible.

  
  


The good part is that at least he didn’t had any time to think about Mark and his stupid girlfriend. His mind was so focused on the problem that he actually didn’t think about anything besides ways to make it possible to anticipate the release.

  
  
  


He realizes that he really didn’t think about anything else when he hears a sound coming from his stomach. He forgot to eat lunch once again, he hated when Renjun was right. When he is about to call someone to buy him something to eat while he finishes other parts of his work, he hears the door opening.

  
  
  
  


"I should never have indicated Chenle to be your personal assistant. Now you have a secretary that does not fear me as much as they should." Renjun says as he enters Donghyuck's office, of course without knocking.

  
  


"I couldn't disagree more." Donghyuck says from the couch. Renjun sits beside him on the sofa in the middle of the office, putting his feet on the center table in front of him. Donghyuck feels so exhausted that all he can do is look at his friend.

  
  


"I am the vice president here but you somehow manage to do all the work!" The now blond haired boy says.

  
  


"You are also the head chief of our whole clothing design team. I can't let you drown in too much work." Donghyuck answers.

  
  


"You literally leave nothing for me to do."

  
  


"Oh boy, I wish that was true. I don't even remember when was the last time I stepped into the design department. Even less when was the last time I drew something new. You do all the work there, Injunnie, I can’t overwork you.”

  
  


“There’s no way to win with you.” Renjun says, already smiling. “But tell me, how was the ball? I didn’t call you yesterday because I know you would be tired but I really want to know about it.” Renjun says getting closer.

  
  
  


And so Donghyuck tells him everything. Or, almost everything. He purposely leaves out the Mark part and prefers to ask something instead.

  
  


“Do you remember the woman we saw the other day in the restaurant?” Renjun looks taken aback by the sudden question.

  
  
  


“Yes? The one that I said that looked like a model but couldn’t be her?” Renjun says while looking suspiciously at Donghyuck.

  
  
  


“Exactly. So, let’s pretend that it was really the model with the CEO boyfriend, would she really be cheating? Like, all we saw was her holding hands with him right? He could be her brother or something like this.” 

  
  
  


Donghyuck doesn't even know why he is asking, he shouldn’t be worried about that matter, but he can’t help it. It’s not something that he should meddle, something that he should care about, but he is always too good for his own good and he knows that.

  
  
  


“Oh, she would definitely be cheating, I saw them kissing.” Renjun says simply.

  
  
  


“Oh god…” Donghyuck says as he sighs. That was just perfect. 

  
  


“Are you planning on telling me what’s going on, or you just want me to keep guessing?” 

  
  


“It’s a long story, Injun.” Donghyuck says with a tired tone.

  
  


“Well, I have all the time in the world. It’s already eight in the night so it’s not like I was going to work now or something. And before you even try, I’m not gonna let you work either, I won’t let you overwork yourself again tonight.”

  
  
  


“There’s no way to win with you.” Donghyuck says playfully, just like Renjun had said earlier. “So, you remember when I said I was having problems with a classmate at university?”

  
  


“Hm… You mean that one time that you almost dropped college and had to start working and taking less classes? You even graduated late for that, right?”

  
  
  


“Yes, exactly. Well, I think now it’s time for you to know what really happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... That was it! Next chapter we are going to see what happened between Donghyuck and Mark, at least by Donghyuck perspective. I'll do my best to update it on Sunday but if there is any change of plans I'll make sure to talk about it on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hisjaems), so if you want to know, just follow me there haha.


	3. Like the kind of movies that we used to hate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! So this is the chapter that we get to see what happened between Mark and Donghyuck. If you are like me and like listening to songs while reading, I recommend you to listen to "Hate Everything" by Golden, that it's the song I listened to while writing this chapter! Also, this is unbetaed so please forgive me for any mistake. I hope you enjoy it!

  
  


Donghyuck sees Mark for the first time in his third week of college. Everything has been good and he is adapting quite quickly, at least more than he was imagining he would. 

He is majoring in business and even though that is not what his first choice would be - he wanted to major in design since the beginning of his high school, but his mother didn’t give him the choice - he is doing quite decently and he doesn't hate the classes like he thought he would. 

Mark gets Donghyuck’s attention on him from the very first moment he enters the classroom. Donghyuck gets along well with all his classmates and has an attentive eye. That’s the reason why he knows from the moment Mark enters the classroom, he was new there.

Besides extroverted and attentive, Donghyuck is also very curious, so he can’t help but to sit beside his new classmate that day.

What he ends up discovering is that Mark is a very reserved person, so he doesn’t talk a lot about himself, but for some reason, Donghyuck feels like the other boy is actually nice so he sticks around.

As the days go by, Donghyuck only gets closer to Mark. What started with only them sitting together in class, evolves to them having lunch and studying together and soon enough, they are almost inseparable.

Donghyuck learns that Mark is actually one year older than him and that he had another major before changing it to business. That subject always seems to get Mark a little defensive so he chooses to not force him to talk about it unless he feels comfortable with doing so.

Donghyuck also learns that Mark is from an influential family - he couldn’t really hide it when that limousine showed up on the campus - but Mark also seems reserved about that matter so Donghyuck doesn’t push it.

Things go on like that for a couple of months, they study with each other and also spend their afternoons together, at least when they are both free. 

Donghyuck still remembers though, the day Mark made him a suggestion that changed his life. It was close to the end of their first semester.

  
  


“You said you wanted to do design, right? Why don't you double major?” Mark says not stopping looking at the sky.

Donghyuck turns to look at him. They were both lying on the soccer field. Mark was waiting there for Donghyuck’s basketball practice to over but when Donghyuck arrived, he only laid on the floor close to him. Mark didn’t say anything, he could see how tired he was.

“What? Why are you saying this out of nowhere?” Donghyuck says half laughing, he doesn't know if the older is being serious.

“I mean what I just said. You never thought about double majoring?” He says, still looking up.

“Not really? I don’t have the money for two majors bro.”

“Man, you literally have a sports scholarship! I’m sure you’d be able to handle it.” Donghyuck thinks about what the boy just said.

  
  


“Maybe... But why don’t you do this too? For the way you talk about it, I feel like you liked your previous major better than this one. Why don’t you double major? You’re literally rich, there’s no way money is the problem.” 

  
  


“My situation is... More complicated.” Is all that Mark says and Donghyuck knows better than to try to make him talk, he long has learned that Mark only talks about something when he feels like it, there’s no point in asking him too many questions.

And just like this, Mark completely changes Donghyuck’s life. Sadly, it wasn’t the last time.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


It’s one year later, when everything falls apart.

  
  


It actually started like a good semester. Donghyuck was somehow dealing well with getting good grades at both, his third semester in business and his second semester on design. His design professors said that he had an amazing natural talent and his professors from business didn’t have any complaints about him.

  
  


He even was managing to do a great job at the basketball games, being called the ace of his team and everything.

  
  


Well, that was, until three weeks before his last game of the season.

  
  


“Man, I literally have no idea how you do this.” Renjun says when the class is finally over and Donghyuck quickly starts getting his things together to go to the basketball practice.

  
  


“I’m just lucky to have the right people by my side, I couldn’t do this alone.” Donghyuck says, putting the last of his notebooks into his backpack.

  
  


“I know that I’m a living angel and always remind you about the assignments you have to do but who helps you in your business classes? Everyone seems so boring there.” Renjun asks.

  
  


“Just that friend of mine I told you about. Bye!” Donghyuck says, already leaving the classroom.

  
  


The truth is that Donghyuck is not purposely avoiding talking about Mark with Renjun. He only thinks that Mark is a reserved person and he doesn’t think he would like to have someone talking about him with others.

  
  


That’s what Donghyuck is thinking about when he runs into someone and falls.

  
  


“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t really looking at where I was going. Are you okay?” He says as he gets up from the floor. Running without paying attention is never a good choice but it’s one that Donghyuck almost always makes.

“It’s okay.” The other man says. “Are you Donghyuck?”

“Yes? How do you know?” He asks

“As if there is anyone that doesn’t know the basketball team ace.” Donghyuck only laughs at that. “I was actually looking for you. My name is Jaehyun.” The man says with a smile.

  
  


“Hm... Nice to meet you Jaehyun. I don’t think I have seen you around.”

  
  


“Oh, I graduated last year, but I’m friends with Mark so of course I know about you.” Jaehyun says smiling. “That brings me back to why I’m here. You know that Mark is traveling abroad in three weeks, right?” 

  
  


Of course Donghyuck knows. Even if he was avoiding thinking about that as his life depended on it, he knows. Mark told him that he would have to study one year abroad, something about some internship his father got him. But Donghyuck hates goodbyes, so he just avoids thinking about that.

“Yes, I do. What about it?”

  
  


“I’m making a goodbye video for him, but I need more people to show up on it. As you probably know, Mark is not the most extroverted person and it is a little difficult for him to make friends. But he always talks about you so... Would you want to be on it?” 

  
  


“Sure! But does it have to be now? I’m kind of in a hurry.” He says looking at his watch. He has 15 minutes to get to the practice and he knows that the coach is going to kill him if he arrives late again.

“Yes, because I still have to edit it before he goes and it will probably take some time. But we’ll do this quickly, okay?” Donghyuck thinks before answering. But it’s for Mark, so his answer is obvious.

  
  


“Yes, okay, let’s do this.”

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  


“Okay so... you can start saying what did you think about Mark when you first saw him.” Jaehyun says as he stands behind the camera.

  
  


“Okay, so... Well, when I first met Mark, he seemed to be very shy, and as he entered later in the semester, I was curious about him. He proved to be someone really amazing and I’m really glad I went to talk to him that day.” 

  
  


“That was really good!” Jaehyun says. “Now tell me about the worst experience that you two lived together.” Donghyuck feels confused by the strange question but answers it anyways.

  
  


“Oh, this one is easy. We had to do an appointment in a really short period of time and that professor is really the worst! Always boring and expecting too much of us. So Mark ended up in my dorm so we could make the appointment but the energy went out, like, the energy of the whole block so we had to run into the closest library we found. We made the appointment and sent it to the professor just in time. But when we got out it was raining, so when we were finally at the dorm again, Mark looked absolutely pitiful. I had to make him enter and take a shower. It was really fun though.” 

  
  


“Now tell me Donghyuck, what are your goals for the future?”

  
  


“Well, this was a little out of nowhere.” Donghyuck says half laughing. “Well, of course I have goals, everyone has. At the moment to be honest, all I want is to work hard in everything I can. I’m not like the kind of person that likes to just use someone’s influence or power to have things. They act like it’s okay to use someone to get where they want, like this person doesn't deserve better than be treated like that. All I want to do is work hard to do the things I have to do and the ones I like to do.”

  
  
  


“Very good! I think that’s enough.” Jaehyun says already turning off the camera and.. his cellphone? 

  
  


“Is this your cell phone? What were you using it for?” He can’t help but ask.

  
  


“Oh, I used it to record the audio! You know, the microphone of this camera is not the best so I prefer to record the audio with my cell phone and put it together later.” The other man says a little bit surprised by Donghyuck attentive eyes. Is it Donghyuck’s mind playing tricks on him or Jaehyun is blushing?

  
  


“Oh, that makes sense. And about this last question? What was it for?”

  
  


“For an inspirational part I’m going to make at the end of the video!” Jaehyun answers easily.

  
  


“Oh, okay.” Donghyuck looks at his watch. “Shit! I have to go! It was nice meeting you, Jaehyun.” He says, already leaving, almost running.

  
  


“The pleasure was all mine!” Is all that Donghyuck hears from where he’s already running.

  
  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  


“So… I’ve been thinking…” Mark says a little hesitant and Donghyuck can see on his face that he is insecure about what he is about to say.

  
  


“Oh, this is a new thing!” Donghyuck can’t help but mock his friend.

  
  


“Forget it. I won’t tell you.” Mark says, fake hurt on his tone.

  
  


“Oh, come on Markie! You know I’m just playing with you.” Donghyuck pouts at the older.

  
  


“Okay, okay.’ Mark is always so easy on him that it is even funny sometimes. “So I’ve been thinking… And there’s something I want to tell you.” Mark says, blushing a little. 

  
  


“Then tell me!” Donghyuck says, a little confused and very much curious. It is already past the time where Mark felt shy around him. Would this be about his family? Or maybe about his previous major?

  
  


“Haha, not so fast pretty boy.” Donghyuck blushes a little and curses himself. Why would he blush at Mark complimenting him? It’s ridiculous. “I’ll tell you if you go to the park to have a picnic with me this Saturday.” Mark says, looking in a challenging way to Donghyuck.

  
  


“Well, I’m in!” Donghyuck says without even thinking. He only remembers it some seconds later. “Oh shit, wait! I have the semifinals of the tournament this weekend! And in the other one you’re going to be finishing your preparations for the trip, right?”

  
  


“Yes... we probably have a problem… because in the one after that, I’ll be leaving and you will have the final…”

  
  


“And I can’t have a picnic on a week day because of my assignments for both of my majors and all the practice for the games… Shit, when we became so busy?”

  
  


“Yeah… What time is your game this Saturday?”

  
  


“It is 9 pm but it’s in another city so we’re leaving on the team bus in the morning I think.” Donghyuck answers.

  
  


“Well… How far is the city?”

  
  


“Around 3 hours? But by bus it always takes a little more…”

  
  


“Okay… So how about it, you have lunch with me on Saturday and after that I take you there in my car. I promise you we'll leave before 4 pm.” Mark proposes.

  
  


“Hm… I’ll try to convince the coach!” Donghyuck says and gets a smile from Mark. 

  
  
  


After that, they continue to study in the quiet library.

  
  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


It is Saturday and Donghyuck feels totally electric. He is really excited to picnic with Mark and to the game later that day. Not to mention the anxiety to know what Mark wanted to tell him. It is eleven am and he is already totally dressed up, even if he is not supposed to meet with Mark before twelve.

  
  


He sits on his couch to wait for the time Mark will knock at his door. It’s around 12:15 when he gets Mark's message.

  
  
  


_ My friend just arrived and said he had something important to say, I’ll probably be a little late. _

  
  


_ You already are.  _ Donghyuck thinks but he doesn’t really mind, they still have plenty of time, he’s sure Mark will arrive soon.

  
  


Except that he doesn’t. Minutes after minutes passes and Mark doesn’t show up. When it’s three pm he can’t hold anymore and text Mark.

  
  


That was really strange and so not like Mark. Since he met Mark, the older never got late, much less ghosted him, something must have happened to him. Mark is always pontual. When he checks his phone to see if Mark answered his messages, he realizes that he didn’t even get them. What was happening?

  
  


Donghyuck is so worried about Mark that he completely forgets about his game until it’s too late. It’s already 4:30 pm and he knows he won’t be able to get there by bus in time. He can only hope that the coach is going to forgive him as he leaves his dorm to knock at Mark’s dorm.

  
  
  


It’s all in vain though. When he gets there he is greeted by Mark’s roommate and he tells him that Mark left for his home some time ago.

  
  
  


Donghyuck thanks him and leaves, mind running. It is strange. Ever since he knew Mark, Mark never visited his home, not even once. Did something happen in Mark’s family? But that doesn’t explain why he wasn’t getting his messages. 

  
  


Donghyuck didn’t even know who Mark's family was, much less where they live. He feels totally lost.

  
  


He tries not to think about it and tries to sleep, but it was useless. Every message he gets from his coach and teammates makes his heart race, hoping that they are an answer from Mark, but they never are.

  
  


And that is how he spends his whole weekend, getting angry texts from his coach and hoping that Mark would finally text him back.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  


It’s Tuesday and Donghyuck is pretty sure he has bags under his eyes. He wasn’t able to sleep in the last three days and he is going to his class with an undone assignment.

  
  


His coach said that they were barely able to make it to the finals without him and if he loses the final game, he’d be off the team for good. Donghyuck can’t afford losing his place at the team and his scholarship so he promises he won’t miss a game anymore.

  
  


His head it’s almost spinning from tiredness but he suddenly feels completely awake when he sees Mark seated in their class. He missed yesterday’s class so Donghyuck isn’t expecting to see him there but he feels relieved he is.

  
  
  


“Mark! What happened? You vanished!” Donghyuck says as he gets closer to where Mark is sitting, worry in his tone. When Donghyuck is about to sit beside him, Mark finally speaks.

  
  


“There’s someone sitting there.” Strange, Mark always kept the chair beside him for Donghyuck.

  
  


“Oh. Sorry. But… what happened? I hadn't heard from you since Saturday, before the time we were supposed to meet.”

  
  
  


“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk to you right now, Donghyuck.” Donghyuck feels like he was punched on the stomach.

  
  


He wants to say so much, he wants to scream at him for making him lose the game and for ghosting him. Donghyuck is the one that was wronged so why is Mark the one acting like Donghyuck did something wrong? Even if he wants to argue with the other boy, he takes the professor walking into the class as a clue for not saying anything and just sits somewhere else. He knows Mark, he wouldn’t do something unless he had a reason, so he decides not to say anything.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Days pass and Mark doesn’t show up at any of their classes anymore. It’s Friday when he hears the rumors. A classmate suddenly asks him how he is feeling knowing that Mark was leaving tomorrow and that he just went to the university today to take the last papers he’ll need abroad.

  
  


That is ridiculous. Mark isn’t supposed to leave in more than a week. And even if he is mad at Donghyuck for some reason he doesn’t know, he wouldn’t just leave like that, would he? 

  
  


Donghyuck doesn’t answer his classmate and just asks where Mark is at that moment. He says that he saw Mark leaving the building not too long ago so he must be somewhere on the way to the exit of the campus.

  
  
  


Donghyuck thinks he never ran so fast in his life. All he could think about is that Mark wouldn’t do that. That he wouldn’t just leave like that, not talking to him, even if he was mad at him. Mark wouldn’t do that. But then, why is he running so desperately?

  
  


He finds Mark in the stairs of the outside of the building, heavy rain falling in him.

  
  


“Mark!” He screams as he gets closer. Mark doesn’t stop.

  
  


“Mark! For god's sake you better stop before I make you do it!” He screams one more time with so much anger in his tone that this time Mark stops and turns around.

  
  


Donghyuck is around 10 steps up the stairs compared to Mark, but the way Mark looks at him makes him stop from moving.

  
  


He doesn’t know what he was expecting but Mark’s burning anger on his eyes definitely isn’t one of them. Mark looks at him with so much anger, he doesn’t know what to do. There is another feeling there too, or so he thinks, Mark never really let any weakness show.

  
  
  


“What do you want, Donghyuck?” Mark says, voice shaking with so much anger that Donghyuck has to take some time to answer.

  
  
  


“Please tell me that this isn’t true. That you weren’t planning on fucking leaving without telling me.” He knows that his voice was shaking but he can’t help it.

  
  


“It is true, what about it?” Mark says trying to sound indifferent but Donghyuck could still hear the anger besides it.

  
  


“What about it? What about it?” He repeats almost screaming. He can already feel the tears falling from his eyes. “Well, I’ll tell you! I fucking lost the semifinal game because of you! Because you couldn’t even text me telling me that something happened! Then you show up after missing one day of class and you don’t talk to me like I was the one that did something wrong? And then you vanish again! What the fuck Mark? I gave you space and waited for you to calm down and talk to me, because I know you’re not the kind of person to get mad without a reason but you were planning on leaving without telling me? Leaving when you have blocked my number so I won’t even be able to reach you?” Donghyuck makes a pause to breathe and try to steady his voice.

  
  
  


“I actually changed my number.” Mark says with no real emotion in his tone.

  
  
  


“That’s even worse, you asshole! Please tell me that there is some misunderstanding and that you were going to talk to me. Tell me that you didn’t make me lose a game and almost my scholarship for nothing” Donghyuck says as a last try. He doesn’t even try to wipe the tears on his cheeks, they are mixed with the raindrops anyway.

  
  
  


“That’s the thing Donghyuck, that’s not my problem. I don’t care about you. I wasn’t going to tell you about my travel anticipation because it has nothing to do with you. We talked for some time but it is not like we are really close or something like that. I don’t care about you, and if you’d be honest, you don't care about me too.”

  
  
  


That is ridiculous. Donghyuck can’t even believe what he just heard. He doesn’t care? He can’t believe Mark was an asshole all this time and he didn’t realize. No, there must be another explanation.

  
  


That’s what he’s thinking when he runs down the wet stairs down to try to get to Mark. That is, before he feels himself losing balance and he falls, immediately feeling a pain in his ankle. 

  
  


Mark turns around because of the sound and sees Donghyuck on the floor but he only turns back around and leaves. Donghyuck’s ankle is not the only thing he feels hurting as he looks at Mark leaving the campus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it! Just a friendly reminder that this is no way impartial and it's the way Donghyuck saw the things that happened. I hope you liked it! I don't think that is anyone reading this but if there is someone, I'll be updating it every two weeks :)

**Author's Note:**

> It’s starting haha as always, thank you for reading it and comments and kudos are highly appreciated!
> 
> Come to scream at me about Markhyuck anytime in my [twt](https://twitter.com/hisjaems) or on my [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/hisjaems)


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